Victims turn to black magic

By AYE AYE WIN
the Associated Press

Published: May 24, 2014;Last modified: May 24, 2014 10:48PM

YANGON, Myanmar — Victims of land grabs in Myanmar have eagerly tested newfound freedoms by protesting and sending petitions to the president and parliament, to no avail. Now some are turning to old ways: Curses and black magic.

Coffins marked with the names of those who seized property have been set ablaze. In rugged central regions of the country, aggrieved villagers have prayed for mountain gods to unleash their wrath.

“This is our last weapon,” said Sein Than, who was among 200 families evicted from homes at Michaung Kan in eastern Yangon, where they had lived for generations. He and dozens of others presented offerings — and pleas — to “demons of the Earth.”

“Punish those who grab our land and desecrate the pagoda,” they chanted this month in front of a Buddhist temple. “Drag them to the lowest level of being and keep them there forever.”

Land seizures by the military, the government and private companies linked to junta cronies have long been commonplace here.